The Cushion Wave

In various public places, waiting areas can always be found with permanently installed metal benches. They are neither appealing nor comfortably designed. Some of these benches have no backrests and have partitions between the seating areas. These are deliberately designed to prevent people from lying down. It is a concrete example of displacement architecture in public spaces. The aim is to prevent people from staying too long in the square and thus to prevent undesirable actions from the outset. Some people do not consciously perceive these measures.

 

The basic idea of the artistic guerrilla experiment „The Cushion Wave“ is to make people aware of the use of displacement architecture in public space. This is to be achieved with seat cushions that are distributed on a wide variety of benches in public space. The idea is for people to think critically about the issue and thus initiate a discussion about the design of public space.

 

„Displacement architecture narrows the living space, but it does not make the homeless disappear.“ (Kraft, 2003, online source)

 

This suggests that it temporarily solves the problem but does not address the cause. Underlying this is a much larger social problem that requires a collective solution. The first step is to create awareness.

 

An artistic experiment by: Nadja Reifer / Alina Sutter / Carina Schneider